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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Event: expect the unexpected (1)

Hey There. What's up? U miss me?
Before I begin, permit me to dedicate these series of posts to 2 lovely people: Tomilola Lawal (for inspiring me to be consistent with my posts, and for persuading me to join Blogsville - U're awesome!), and Ifunanya ( for inspiring me to take a leap into writing a series. You showed me - indirectly - how to let a story craft itself, and I intend to do that with these). I appreciate you all. You guys can check out Tomi's Blogs here and here; and Ifunanya's blog here. Fun stuff, I tell U! Great writers they are.

Now, to the post. Get a glass of juice or something to sip on. This is kinda a long read.
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Decided to do my own design as the picture for the post -
This is a blog about the beauty of graphic design, remember?
What do you think? What could I have done better?
Opinions are welcomed.

He opened his eyes; everything was fuzzy. He could make out the outlines of an image above him and a dim curve on the lower part of the image. A smile. He felt loved. “Wake up, Hiko. It’s time to get ready for school”, the soft yet firm voice said. “O.K. Mom, I’m coming”, Akihiko replied groggily. He rolled out of bed and walked to the bathroom like a Resident Evil zombie who had overdosed on opium and alcohol. His full consciousness returned to him as soon as the water hit him.

He had a good life: had never known what it was to miss a meal, had two parents who were happily married, who loved him dearly and never failed to tell him, had a nice apartment to live in, was attending one of the best schools in his district. Not many of his mates or friends were that lucky. He was the only child of his parents, albeit not by choice.

The Daichis were a happy couple. They enjoyed each other’s company, but one thing that brought them sadness was the fact that they were married for several years with no child to share their love with. Yet they managed to stay happy. Mr. Daichi was quite the romantic. He would bring home flowers for his wife while returning from work at least once a week, and constantly researched new ways to spice up their romance. Nevertheless, when they saw other couples with their baby trams and screaming kids, they longed for the day they would hold their own child in their arms. Their own flesh and blood.

After being married for three years with no sign of pregnancy, they had panicked themselves into the doctor’s office. The doctor had told them that their reproductive organs were working fine; there was no logical reason they shouldn’t have a baby in the next few months. This calmed the Daichis down a bit. Then, one year. Two years. Three years. Four years. Five years. Six years later. They decided that the first doctor they were seeing was a quack, and sought a second opinion. The second doctor told them that they were fine, except for one small issue: Mrs. Daichi’s fallopian tubes were very small – if she got pregnant, the chances of an ectopic pregnancy occurring were 95%. This news brought gloom, enough to suck the light out of a street lamp. That day, Mr. Daichi got his wife the biggest bouquet of flowers his “flower guy” could hook him up with, and later took her out for ‘A Night on the Town’. They were happy again, albeit for a little while.

About a month from their “Night on the Town”, Mrs. Daichi was awakened by a deep retching feeling in her gut. She rushed to the bathroom, and threw up for over 20 minutes. Naturally, Mr. Daichi was worried. He did the most logical think he could think of at the moment: he rushed her to the hospital. The diagnosis was not expected. Mrs. Daichi was three weeks pregnant. Oh! What joy! “You can throw up all you want honey, as long as we get the baby!” shouted Mr. Daichi as he drove her hack home from the hospital. She screamed in return, “We’re getting a baby! WE’RE HAVING A BABY!!” The joyous moment had finally arrived! They signed up for pre-natal classes, went shopping for baby things, and hired an interior designer to remodel the third room of their 3-bedroom-apartment into the baby’s room that same day! Their joy was contagious, which turned out to be a blessing for the interior designer and the carpenter they hired to fix up a custom baby cot to their specification – the Daichis tipped them like they contributed to the pregnancy.

During one of the routine prenatal visits to their obstetrician 6 weeks later, Mrs. Daichi got some not so shocking news: she had an ectopic pregnancy. The obstetrician showed them the ultrasound scans – Mrs. Daichi’s fallopian tube was already damaged badly from the pressure of a growing zygote. Mrs. Daichi needed surgery fast to move the zygote into the uterus directly. The surgery took place 1 week later. After 2 days of preparations and 6 hours of surgery, Mr. Daichi was glad to see the lead surgeon come out with a smile on his face. That was all he needed to see - all was well. However, Mrs. Daichi was advised not to get a second baby after the one that was on its way, or it could completely ruin her reproductive system. The rest of the pregnancy went on without a hitch. 

On the 2nd of August, 2001, the Daichis officially welcomed the newest member of their family! They looked down at him, and his eyes seemed to sparkle. “Let’s call him ‘Akihiko’”, Mrs. Daichi said softly. “Hmm. Akihiko. The Bright Prince. I like it”, Mr. Daichi replied. “You always know how to pick the best names, don’t you?” he continued. She smiled; they kissed. Their dreams had come true.

 Hiko got out of the shower and got ready for school. He didn’t let his Dad dress him up anymore; he was an adult now. A ten-year-old adult. He got into the elevator with his Mom and rode it down from the 15th floor where their apartment was located. “Why don’t they let ten-year-olds drive cars? I bet I can drive Mom’s car – it’s not that hard. That’s so unfair.” These were the thoughts swirling around in Hiko’s head as his Mom dropped him off at school. Mrs. Daichi and her son came out of the car, and she knelt so she could look at his face directly.
Hiko, don’t miss the school bus back home, O.K? Do your homework before I get back. I’m working an extra hour today, so I’m gonna be home a little late.
Its fine, Mom. I can take care of myself. I’m fine. I’m a man, you know...
I know, my little man. You’re a man and can take care of yourself. That’s why I love you.” Mrs. Daichi leaned forward to kiss her son on the forehead...
MOM! STOP IT! You’re EMBARASSING ME!!
Really? That’s what you’re gonna tell your Momma before she goes off to work? And where did you learn that word, anyway??
O.K. Mom...sorry.” In a muffled tone: “I love you too. Now go! See you when you get back.” Then he ran off to join the hordes of children pouring into the great halls of Tohoku Elementary.

A smile came across Mrs. Daichi’s face. Indeed, she loved smiling – her face had two small cute creases from her constant smiling, and it made her apple-shaped face look all the more beautiful. She entered the car, revved the engine, made a U-turn and sped off to work, all the while thinking: “Hiko grew up too fast! How did he grow up this fast?”

The day went by quickly. Not much was interesting as usual. The teacher did the same old routine. “I could have just stayed home and taught myself by reading Wikipedia all day”, thought Hiko. “I could have had a three day weekend – I don’t learn much from here anyway. But No – Mom wants Hiko to come to school. Why won’t she leave me alone?? Well, school’s almost over. I can go home and watch some TV. I might even go to Koichi’s house later on. Oh well. Today, March 11, is going to be just another uneventful day. So uncool.”

...if only he knew how wrong he was.
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...to be continued (I've always wanted to say that.)

Have a Kolor-Full  Life!

Yours Truly.

6 comments:

  1. I luv it CJ, I really do. Luv d names even more. Where did u get dem frm? Luved d way u switched frm d present 2 give us a background on d Daichis.
    So wat's gonna happen next? Fingers crossed.
    By d way, so I inspired u 2 be consistent? And I'm not even dat consistent myself. Thnx 4 d mention.

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  2. Great job CJ! Love the names indeed! Very unique. I can't stand bad stories so please make it a nice ending please lol. (No pressure what so ever hihih) Love the way you mixed the past and present. It wasn't divided with a subtitle or differentiated by italics. Very smooth transitions. Me very likey. Looking forward to the next .. Blessings :)

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  3. OK, I don't want to say what everyone said, but I do love the names... quite unique. It was after reading that I remembered I was reading your blog, you spun a very interesting tale.. I thought I was in a novel. I like your story development too... very nicely paced.
    I think I've talked enough. Hurry up with Part two!!!
    Thanks for the mention too!

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  4. @Tomi: Thanks! LOL! The names are part of my 'creative secrets' - Good to know you all love it! Part 2 coming soon. You inspired me to be consistent - remember when U started "Rhema!", you were consistent with that, and also with "Random-Ish". Hoping you'll make a return to blogsville...

    @Emmanuela: Thanks a lot Lady! Oh, the ending is gonna be nice, but the post says to do what? Expect the Unexpected. Yep. Glad to know U liked it! I feel like I'm writing an episode of Switched At Birth... [inside joke].

    @Ify: LOL! I like the fact that You always want to stand out of the crowd. That's a very defining quality. Thanks! And Ur 'For Worse or Worse' series was part of the inspiration for the post - It was super cool! I've never written a series before. Bt there's a first time for everything, right?

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  5. Haha CeeJay....nice story! I rather like this 'Hiko' guy.....seeing as he was born on the 2nd of August. :)

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  6. LOL...I specifically planned it that way. Was thinking of a bday, nd urs came 2 mind, seeing as it's 'next up' in the line of bdays...

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Your comments are appreciated, and your opinions welcome!